I absolutely loved Orwell’s essay. It was very refreshing to see that someone who is very well-respected also does not appreciate when people talk and write in a language that makes their point impossible to understand. He said that all five of the passages he analyzed had either “stale imagery”, “dying metaphors”, or both. The people that wrote them probably consider themselves to be writing in an elevated, sophisticated language. In fact, they are simply combining complicated words with hazy meanings to their passages.
It reminds me of a politician answering a question about an issue he was not prepared to discuss. He searches for words that will sound good enough and make him seem intelligent, but in reality, he just spits out generalities. A lot of times, I find myself wishing they (politicians) would just be straightforward, so no sentences of the like had to be used. If he does not know the answer, let him say so, not fumble around for the right cliché.
I also liked all six of Orwell’s points. I certainly have been told the opposite of them before, but I think for the most part they would be good for us to follow. Taking out unnecessary words allows us to be more precise and to-the-point. Using the active instead of the passive keeps us in the moment. The only disagreement I have is that sometimes, a longer word is more descriptive than a short word. “I went to the store” is boring. “I frolicked to the store” lets you know that I went merrily without a care.
I felt exactly the same way. I'm so tired of seeing and hearing bad grammar everywhere, especially when it is just simple things like the difference between there/their/they're and to/too/two. I reviewed some freshmen essays when I was a senior in high school and they were using things like lol, brb, and similar things. Seeing that just made me kind of sad. These were high schoolers and they did not even know how to write simple sentences.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked your point about the politician making stuff up. I see that a lot too, but I will name no names. I always get a good laugh. They would probably be more well-liked if they would just speak clearly and use words that the whole population would understand, instead of just trying sound so sophisticated.